PS 2042 
.D5 
1909 
Copy 



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LivinEin-Mnn 

BY 
ELBERT HVBKHRIi 

(FRR ELBERTV^) 



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THE ROY^ROFTER? 
EH5T HI/RORRERIE^Ol/hW riY 



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Copyright 

1909 

By Elbert Hubbard 



LiSHMRYof C0NGRES5>j 
Tv/o Oooies Hecsived ! 

' JUN 2tt It^U^ j 

CopyriiiiK Liiiry ! 



The Divine In Man 



7;^^, 



^J^\J^^Sff^-^NI I vonder what a man really 

" jlj isl Starxlng fioiju a singk ^cll, 

this seized upon by another, and 




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out of the Eternal comes a par- 
T^.'ii^ tide of the Divine Energy that 
f T^ makes these cells its home. 
-^* ;^^ Growth follows, cell is added to 
c«ill, and there develops a man — a man whose 
body t j-thirds water, can be emptied by a 
sitg; i • ger=thrust and the spirit given back to 
its Nlaker in moment. 

IXTY generations have come and gone since 
Caesar trod the Roman Forum. 
The pillars against which he often leaned still 
stand. The thresholds over which he passed are 
there. The pavements ring beneath your tread as 
they once raDg beneath his. 
Three generations and more have come and gone 
since Napoleon trod the streets of Toulon con= 
templating suicide. 

Babes in arms were carried by fond mothers to 
see Lincoln, the candidate for President. 
These babes have grown into men, are grand= 

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fathers, possibly, with whitc*Jied hair, furrowed 
faces, looking calmly forward to the end, haWng 
tasted all that life holds in store c 
And yet Lincoln lived but yestertui v 
You can reach back into the past ani grasp his 
hand, and look into his sad and weary eyes. 
A man I 

Weighted with the sins of his i>arents, griind- 
parents, great-grandparents, who fade off into 
dim spectral shapes in the dark anr! dreamlike 
past jt ^ 

No word of choice has he in the selection of his 
father and mother; no voice in the choositig of 
environment ,^ Brought into life without his 
consent, and pushed out of it against his will — 
battling, striving, hoping, cursing, waiting, loving, 
praying; burned by fever, torn by paosion, checked 
by fear, reaching for friendship, longing for sym- 
pathy, hungering for love, clutching — nothing. 



/r%f|Y heart goes out to you, O man, because I 
jjTI^l cannot conceive of any being greater, 
nobler, more heroic, more tenderly loving, loyal, 
unselfish and enduring than are you. 
All the love I know is Man's love. All the for- 
giveness I know is Man's forgiveness jt All the 

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symrathy f know is Miui's sympathy. Q And 

hence I addicss myself to Man -to vou— and 

yo :• -srould I 5*rT-:. 

The fact that you are a human being brings you 

neii- to me. It is the bond that unites us. I under= 

stand yoit because you are a part of myself. 

Yov may like me or not— it makes no difference. 

If ev-r you need ray help, I am with you. 

Often we can help each other most by leaving 

each other alor.e; at other times we need the 

hand-grasp and the word of cheer. 

I aa only a man— a mere man— but in times of 
loneliness think of me as one who loves his kind. 

%i What your condition is in life will not pre= 
judice me either for or against you. 
What you have done or not done will not weigh 
in the scales. CJ If you have been wise and prudent, 
* ^i...^.ii:ulate you, unless you are unable to forget 
how wise and good you are, then I pity you. 
If you have stumbled and fallen and been mired 
in the mud, and have failed to be a friend to 
yourself, then you of all people need friendship, 
and I am your friend. I am the friend of convicts, 
msane people and fools—successful and unsuc= 
cessful, college bred and illiterate. 
You all belong to my church. 

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I could not exclude you if I would ^ B\)^ if I 
should shut you out, I would th*>r» .iose the door 
upon myself and be a prisoner ind'=«='d 
1 he Spirit of Love that flows througii me and of 
which I am a part is your portion too d^ The 
race is one and we trace to a common Divine 
Ancestry. 

I offer you no reward for being loyal to me, and 
surely I do not threaten you wiva pain, penalty 
and dire ill fortune if you are in liffirent to me. 
Q You cannot win me by praise lor adulation. 
Q You cannot shut my heart to ^ ard you, even 
though you deny and revile me. Only the good 
can reach me, and no thought of love you send 
me can be lost or missent. 

All the kindness you feel for me sh ^ Id be given 
to those nearest you, and it shall a >: pasvsed to 
your credit, for you yourself are 5 - record of 
your thoughts, and no error can jcur i- the 
count ^ jt 

You belong to my church, and always and for= 
ever my friendship shall follow you, yet never 
intrude. 

I do not ask you to incur obligations nor make 
promises. 

There are no dues .^t I do not demand that you 
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hall do this and not c^o that. I issue no com= 
xn9 ids ^ J- 

I jaanol iighuu yoxir burden, and perhaps I 
shculd nor evr i if I could, for men grow strong 
thrcugh bearing burdens. If I can I will show 
you how to acquire strength to meet all your 
difficulties, and face the duties of the day. 
It is r^t f. »r me to take charge of your life, for 
surely I d:) well if I look after one person. If you 
err, it is not for me to punish you. We are pun- 
ished by our sir>s, not for them. 
S: ' ^ate I know you will see that to do right 
b.mgs good, an< : to do wrong brings misery, but 
y ^u will abide I the law and all good things be 
yours ^ I cannot cht^nge these laws — I cannot 
make you exempt from your own blunders and 
mistakes. 

And you cannot change the Eternal Laws for me, 
even though you die for me. 
But perhaps I can point you the pathway that 
leads to Love, Truth and Usefulness, and this I 
want to do, because I am your friend. 
And then by pointing you the way I find it 
myself jfc ^ 
You belong to me — you are a member of my 

church — all are members of my church, none are 

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excluded nor can be exclraded. So over the pUins 

and prairies, over the mountains and seas, 'c.^v 

the cities and towns, fa palaces, tenements, ^ 

wagons, dugouts, cottages, hove!: ' 

day coach, caboose, cab, in solitj 

prison bars, or wandering or* i. die o^ars, 

my heart goes out to you, wh i are. and 

I wish you well. 

Only love do I send, and a cJesire to bless and 

benefit. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

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